Sports

Despite losing their pool and adopting a cramped and inconsistent practice schedule mid-season, the St. Louis U. High water polo team enacted revenge on the Parkway West Longhorns last Saturday to emerge as Missouri State Champions for the 22nd time in program history. The boys in blue went into their first state finals match in three years. Their hunger for victory was akin to a starving great white, but the foe was no pushover, with the P. West Longhorns being the only Missouri team SLUH had lost to this year.

“Play for May.” That is one of head coach Jeff Cheak’s favorite sayings for this time of the volleyball season. In simple terms, it means that the team should be playing its best volleyball in the playoffs rather than regular season. 

The postseason is underway with the track team having a strong showing at the district meet this past Saturday in Poplar Bluff, qualifying individuals in 16 of 19 events. SLUH completed this dominant day winning the Class 5 District 1 meet with ease and taking down some other top programs in the state like Jackson and Poplar Bluff with an almost 40 point difference between SLUH and the second place team.

Senior Cullen Swieciki will be taking his lacrosse talents to the next level at Rockhurst next year, where he will be going into the Pre-Med track, majoring in Biology.

Ten years. That’s how long it’s been since SLUH lacrosse has been able to call themselves state champions. But a lot has changed since then. New coaches, new players, and a new culture have ensued, but the goal remains the same: win a state championship. With the playoffs starting the Jr. Bills just need to win four straight games to earn their rings. Lindbergh was their first obstacle in their way. 

What’s better than the SLUH 2022 varsity volleyball team? Well, not much—but the JV team comes pretty close. In varsity’s shadow, JV squashed their competitors in a successful season and now prepares to take the varsity team by storm next year. 

Senior Phillip Bone has recently committed to play volleyball at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey next year. After a dominant season leading the Jr. Bills’ nationally ranked volleyball team, Bone will head to Hoboken to compete for Stevens’ D3 program. Bone believes that Stevens will be a perfect destination to play the sport he loves while majoring in biomedical engineering.

The Jr. Bills cruised through the first two rounds of Districts, defeating Hazelwood Central and Francis Howell North en route to the championship game tonight. 

Although their final record was only 8-10-2, the team was able to develop and grow as a whole. One of their most impressive moments came against St. Dominic, when they managed to come back from a ten run deficit in the first inning. Despite an incredible comeback, they still lost in the seventh inning. 

Senior Gus Tettamble has a lot to celebrate. An undefeated tennis season, an easy District win even with an injured shoulder, plus a bright future. Next year, Tettamble, a top junior player in the region, will join the D1 program at the University of Tulsa, a school with excellent facilities and a long history. 

Melting the ice for spring, the SLUH inline hockey team set up shop at Fenton forum ice arena, where the team ended its 14 game season 6-8, just good enough to make the playoffs. 

After an exhilarating double overtime victory last week versus Eureka, all eyes shifted to the 12 seniors celebrating Senior Night. SLUH matched up against one of their easiest opponents all year in the O’Fallon Panthers. O’Fallon has had a rough year, sitting at 4-11 before heading to Sheridan Stadium, a season that culminated in a 20-0 loss vs. Chaminade. All signs pointed for SLUH to do the same if they could execute as well as they knew they could. This included the return of junior goalie Will Barnidge, who was sidelined in the game against Eureka thanks to an injury. 

The Jr. Bills are state Rugby champions. After a long, physically and emotionally grueling season, the SLUH Footybills ended on the highest note possible with a 16-12 win against the Kansas City Jr. Blues. On the way to the finals, the Jr. Bills powered through MCC rival Chaminade in the quarterfinals and the Liberty Blue Jays in the semis. On the other side of the bracket, the Lindbergh Flyers played the Kansas City Jr. Blues to determine SLUH’s eventual finals opponent.

he St. Louis U. High community is all too acquainted with the greatest trophy in all of high school sports: The Jesuit Cup. Every year, SLUH’s hockey and golf teams face off against fellow Jesuit institution De Smet to lay it all on the line for the honor of raising the Jesuit Cup trophy and proving which school is really better. This year, in an event synonymous with nail-biting finishes, the SLUH golf team blew out De Smet to retain the J Cup title for the second year in a row. However, this success couldn’t be translated into the next week at Districts, when only senior captain Louis Cornett—who tied for first place individually with an even-par 72—qualified for State.

SLUH wrapped up the regular season with a 2-2 split over the past week, adding two wins to a record that has seen significant improvement this year. At 18-14, the Jr. Bills now prepare to host the District tournament next week. Despite struggling at the plate at times, they feel confident that their stellar pitching can push them deep into the District bracket next week.

SLUH Tennis has been seeing red lately. The Red Devils, to be more specific. After cruising to an easy 8-1 win against Chaminade in their regular season matchup last week, the Jr. Bills were forced to overcome a reinvigorated Chaminade team again on Tuesday to take their second straight MCC conference title. 

The St. Louis University High School Ultimate team finished its season last weekend by tying for ninth place at the USA Ultimate 2022 Missouri high school Boys State Championship. The tournament consisted of a pool play round on Saturday and a single elimination bracket on Sunday. 

With the districts drawing nearer, the Track and Field team has been refining their times and preparing for the postseason. The team has competed in four meets since Tuesday, April 26 and have shown off their skills in every single one of them, coming away with new personal bests while simultaneously dominating the competition.

Next year, senior point guard Jaden McClain, who has been a staple of the Jr. Billikens basketball team for four years, will be taking the court for the Big Blue at Millikin University in Decatur, Ill. The Millikin  program, lead by head coach Kramer Soderberg, is experiencing a rebirth of late and McClain was quick to notice it when he visited last fall.

The halls of SLUH and the talk of many in the St. Louis volleyball community have been filled with news of the St. Louis U. High’s unprecedented set streak. Since 2019, the varsity team has not dropped a single set, playing 136 perfectly. This accomplishment is uncommon in volleyball, let alone amid the strong competition of St. Louis high school volleyball. Given the grand stat, the question just had to be asked: When will the SLUH team fall back to earth?